Memories of You
by PrincessKatniss02
Summary: That memories of that day echo throughout the heads of many people...but for some, the memories hurt harder than others. The memories of their loved ones echo throughout their lives, with only a burning pain that can never be healed left behind. One-shot in memory of the 9/11 attacks.


**How's it going, everyone? Its PK2 here; back from another five months of doing absolutely NOTHING to my stories! I know, I know, I haven't updated any of my stories at all. It just feels as if my brain has been stuck in between a rock and a hard place for the past few months. But, don't worry, I promise to resume updates for my other stories VEEEERRRRRYYYY soon. But, this is an EXTREMELY IMORTANT ONESHOT. As you all know, today is September 11, 2016…which means that it is the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I wanted to write something to honor the 3,000-plus men and women that were killed during this terrible, tragic day, With that in mind, enjoy!**

 **DISCLAIMER: PK2 does not own Super Smash Brothers. If she did, Wolf, Sceptile, and King Boo would all be playable fighters in Smash 4.**

The rain pounded down on the roof of Zelda's taxi, which gave a mood that fit like a glove to the events of the day. The young woman sighed as she pondered the choice she had made today. It had been fifteen years since that dreadful event. Fifteen years since her heart had been broken beyond repair. She was almost sure that reaching her destination was just going to break her heart even more.

 _Do I really have to go there? I mean, I didn't go on the five-year anniversary, or on the ten-year anniversary. I'm ninety-nine-point-nine percent positive that this isn't going to help myself in any way. I'm almost positi-_

However, a rush of courage surged through Zelda, almost as if she was being filled with determination. _No. I have to do this. I have a feeling that this is the only way that I can honor…_ _ **him**_ _._ She sighed. _I'm just so worried that I'll start having flashbacks, and that I'll have a mental breakdown…_

At that moment, the taxi lurched to a screeching stop. Zelda's head jerked upward, and chills of fright ran down her spine. _Are we there already? Oh no, oh no,_ _ **oh no**_ _! I thought the ride there would be so much longer…_

Her fears were quickly alleviated when she realized that her taxi was just picking up another passenger- a bright orange dragon whose tail was literally on fire. He was currently giving his credit card to the taxi driver for payment. When the payment was completed, and the driver had given him his credit card back, he stepped into the car and sat down next to Zelda, his smoky breath stinking up the vehicle. He was so huge that he had to bend his neck down like a feeding giraffe in order to fit inside the taxi.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, neither knowing what to say. Then, the dragon turned towards Zelda. "Hey", he grunted, his voice sounding deeper than a bass guitar. "Are you headed to the 9/11 memorial?"

The question made Zelda's heart drop inside her chest. "Y…y...yes…as am…matter of f…fact… I am." she stuttered. "Oh, same." The huge dragon scoffed, leaning back against the car seat. "So it looks like you'll have to deal with me for the rest of your car ride."

For some reason, an overwhelming feeling of hope overtook Zelda's heart. "Oh! Are you just a tourist, or are you…" The dragon's face fell. "I'm the relative of a victim."

Why was the overwhelming feeling of hope continuing to spread throughout her body?

"Oh, me too! Although…this victim wasn't a relative of mine…he was just…someone…very close to me…" Tears began to surge at the back of her eyes. _God damn it Zelda, why did you have to do this to yourself?_ She began to shake. _Don't break down, don't break down, please don't break down…_ she began telling herself.

The dragon's eyes clouded with empathy and understanding. He wanted to tell her that it was okay, that everything would be alright. But he knew he couldn't, because nothing in this world was okay. So instead, the words that came out of his mouth were "What's your name?"

Zelda lifted up her head and raised her eyebrow at him. _Why does he want to know my name? We've only known each other for twenty minutes!_ She wiped her eyes and whispered "Z…Zelda."

"Zelda? That's a pretty name. My name's Charizard. Nice to meet you." He smirked, reaching out his clawed hand in a tentative handshake. Zelda reached out her own dainty, delicate hand, and they did a handshake. His hand was firm, yet warm and strong. It reminded Zelda of _his_ hands.

After that tentative show of friendship, they both sat in silence, only sneaking glances of each other. For some reason it felt too awkward to talk. And then, all of a sudden, they were at their destination .

"Here you are! The 9/11 memorial!" the taxi driver chirped as his passengers shuffled out of the car. He then raised an eyebrow, not sure how to send them off. "Have…fun…I guess?" he muttered. Then he sped off.

Zelda and Charizard stood in the middle of the road, not sure what to do next. "Well…I'll guess I'll go find my relative's name" Charizard sighed, a hint of depression clouding his voice. He turned to the elven woman. "See you, Zelda. It was nice getting to know you." He turned to the side and was about to lumber away when a voice sounded from far in the distance.

"Hey! Hey! Hey, you! Big orange dragon and elf lady! Yeah, you two!"

Zelda and Charizard turned to see a small boy, who couldn't be older than fifteen, running towards them. The boy had jet black hair that was darker than the night, as well as bright blue eyes that shone like the sea at dawn. His right eye also had a strange mark in it. He also wore a red, blue, and yellow striped shirt, jeans, and sneakers.

The boy skidded to a stop in front of them, panting like a greyhound that had just run a 10K marathon. "Can…I ask…a favor…of…you two?" Zelda and Charizard glanced uneasily at each other. "Yeah…sure?"

"Okay. This might sound really freaking psychotic, but please don't run away screaming, or look at me like I need to be put in a mental asylum." The boy took a deep breath. "Will you two please pretend to be my parents?"

Zelda and Charizard stared at the kid for what must have been a full seven minutes. She was surprised a car didn't come out of nowhere and hit the three of them, considering the traffic and how long they were standing there for. Finally, Charizard cleared his throat, releasing a few embers into the air. "Umm…Pardon my Japanese?"

The boy looked at Charizard with confusion. "What do you mean? I'm speaking _English_ , not _Japanese_." Charizard sweatdropped. "Er…It's an expression, kid."

The boy sweatdropped too. "Oh, it was? Sorry! I'm not good at understanding expressions…"The boy looked to the side with a hint of sadness on his face. "…People say I get that from my mother."

"Speaking of your mother, where is she, kid? Why can't she take you?" growled Charizard. The boy continued to look at the ground. "She died in the attacks."

A small gasp escaped Zelda's throat.

Charizard, on the other hand, continued to maintain a grumpy, suspicious expression. "Yeah, then? Why didn't your father take you then, kid? Is he too busy sitting at home mourning to pay respects?"

A tear slipped down the boy's face. "He died in the attacks too."

Zelda's hands clasped over her mouth in shock. _This child is an orphan!_

Her generosity got the better of her, and she kneeled down to clasp the trembling boy's hand. "Don't worry. We'll take you inside." The boy began to develop a smile as he looked up at Zelda's warm and welcoming face.

Charizard, however, was still not convinced. "Seriously, kid? You must have relatives or guardians raising you! Why can't they take you inside? _Why are you alone, anyways?_ "

The boy's eyes began to cloud with tears again. "Well…I've been raised by my grandparents my whole life…but they were too busy…and I don't think my uncles or aunts want to go near here after what happened to my mom and dad…and I didn't know that you had to be eighteen or older to go inside…" His tears began falling to the floor. " **PLEASE! I JUST WANT TO SEE MY PARENTS' NAMES!** " The boy thrust his head into Zelda's chest and began sobbing into her dress.

Charizard's heart wavered at the boy's pain. He normally liked to present himself as a tough guy who didn't care about anybody's feelings, but his one major weakness was crying. He couldn't stand to watch someone on the verge of a mental breakdown. He stood there for a few seconds, before sighing and nodding. "…Alright, kid. You can come with us."

" **YAAAAAAAAY**!" the boy screamed in joy, jumping up and giving Charizard a bear hug around his neck. " **THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH**!" Charizard coughed as he was almost choked to death by the boy. "You're…(cough,cough)…welcome…(wheeze, wheeze)…kid." The boy realized that he was hurting Charizard and jumped off of his neck. Then he blinked sheepishly, as if he had just realized that he had forgotten something. "My name's Ness, by the way." "Ness…Nice name." Zelda smiled.

They ran into a small security problem at the entrance, when the security guard was almost unable to be convinced that they were a family. Luckily, the quick-thinking Ness was able to convince the guard that he was adopted, and the trio were able to get inside. Now it was just a matter of finding the names of their loved ones. They walked around the pool where the names were engraved while Charizard read off names two by two.

"May Birch and Anthony Malkovich…Slippy Toad and Midna Twili…Sly Cooper and Asgore Dreemurr…Kuro Icarus-Lowell and Lucina Icarus-Lowell…Hmm, that's interesting, they have the same last na-"

Ness's head jerked up at the mention of the last two names. "D…Did you j…just say… Icarus-Lowell?" "Yeah, I just did, what's so special about that-" The realization came crashing down onto Charizard a second too late. "Oh…I guess you're where you need to be, then."

Ness stepped towards the engravings of his parents' names with tears in his eyes. He ran his finger of the two first names multiple times, as if he was trying to get to know them by spelling out their names. With every trace of the names, a few more tears began to well up in his eyes. It was almost unbearable to Zelda.

 _God damn it, I'm starting to break watching a kid mourn his parents… How am I going to react when I see_ _ **his**_ _name?_

Charizard stood there in silence, unable to comprehend what he should do in this situation. He began looking down the list of names, trying to distance himself from the situation at hand. However, a name that was very special to him was also on the side of the wall, and he noticed that name.

"…Crap"

Zelda looked up to see Charizard taking a few sidesteps. Curious, she sidestepped to see why he was moving away. She saw the huge dragon standing a few feet away, with his eyes focused on a certain name. Zelda spoke up in a very small voice "Are you feeling uncomfortable?" She looked down to see the name Greninja Oak engraved on the wall.

She looked up at Charizard. "Is this the relative that you were talking about?" she asked him. "My little brother" he responded, his voice hoarse. The normally grumpy and stoic dragon now spoke with depression clouding his voice. Tears began to fall out of his eyes.

"Oh…" Zelda tried her hardest to think of something that would make Charizard happy again, but the only thing that came to her mouth was "I'm… so sorry." She threw her arms around Charizard in the best show of support that she could think of. She awkwardly began patting the dragon's back, desperately trying to think of a better word to say than sorry.

Her eyes began to pan downward…and it was not a name that she was prepared to see.

 _No. It can't be. Can fate really be this cruel, to put all four of the names on the same wall? And so close together, too?_

She blinked a few times, pinched herself, and then looked back down.

But the name Link Hyrule was still engraved on that spot.

It was then that the memories began to come back. She had woken up that morning without him beside her, for he had to leave early to catch his flight. She had spent most of the day anxious, waiting for him to respond that he was safe. When she finally did get her call from him, she was overjoyed…until she realized that he was anything but safe.

 _Hijackers have taken over the plane,_ she remembered his slightly panicky voice saying. _They're trying to crash the plane into the World Trade Center. We've been told to stay in our seats and not try to rebel. Otherwise, they'll shoot us-they have guns, Zellie. I'm probably going to die. I love you so much, Zellie, I wouldn't trade the time we spent for anything else._

 _No, no, no. You're not going to die, Link,_ she remembered herself replying.

 _I said 'probably', Zellie_. He chuckled on the other end of the line. Zelda had loved his laugh. It was so crisp and clear, like the wind on a sunny October afternoon. _I'm still holding onto hope. I'm going to try and think of a strategy to get out of this me-_ She could then hear boots stomping, most likely one of the hijackers. There was a pause, then Link said _See you later, Zellie…Love you._ , then abruptly hung up without letting her say a thing.

That was probably what hurt the most about the whole situation-the fact that she never got to say goodbye to him.

She sunk her head into Charizard's chest and wailed, letting all of the pain of the past fifteen years release onto his chest. He returned the favor by sobbing over her shoulder. The two of them stayed in that embrace for what felt like thirteen eternities, soaking each other with grief for their loved ones.

After they broke apart from their embrace, they stood looking at the ground, daring each other to be the first one to say something. Finally, Charizard spoke up. "I…I..had caught him cheating…"

"Pardon?" Zelda asked.

Charizard looked up. "That morning I…caught him making out…with my ex-girlfriend…in the living room of our apartment…We got into a huge fight…We were screaming, throwing things everywhere…He stormed out of the room because…he was a fireman, he had to go to his job…and the last words I said to him before he left the house were ' _I hate you._ '."

Charizard burst into tears again. "He was more than my little brother…he was my best friend…and the last words I ever said to him…were ' _ **I hate you**_ '."

"At least you got to say something to him." Zelda muttered, looking down. "I didn't get to say anything at all." Charizard looked up at her, curious.

Zelda sighed. "My husband…he had left the house early because he had to catch a flight. Turns out that that flight was one of the flights that got hijacked." She gulped. "He called me to tell me the flight was hijacked...he said that he was probably going to die…I was trying to convince him that he wouldn't die…then I heard one of the hijackers coming towards him…he said goodbye and hung up without a chance for me to say goodbye back."

Zelda was beginning to shake. Her sobs felt like hiccups caught in her throat. _Oh boy, here we go; a panic attack. In the middle of New York City. Joy to the world._ She was just about to fall to her knees and begin screaming when she heard a voice behind her.

"At least you two actually got to _talk_ to them. I couldn't talk at _all_ on that day."

Zelda and Charizard jumped twelve feet in the air; they had totally forgotten that Ness was there. The young boy was standing there with a mixture of mischief and jealousy in his eyes. "WERE YOU LISTENING IN ON OUR CONVERSATION?" Zelda and Charizard roared at the same time.

Ness nodded playfully before sighing and beginning to speak. "To be honest, I never really got to know my parents at all. I was only three months old at the time of the attack. But my grandfather remembers getting calls from both of them that day…He was staying with us at the time, and our apartment was only three streets away…He always tells me how he was repeatedly asking about their safety, over and over again…and their only response was ' _Is Ness safe_?'."

Ness took a deep breath before continuing. "My grandfather also gave me some advice onetime, on how to cope with their deaths…' _Don't mope and think about all of the ways that they could still be in your life…Just remember what they lived for and live your life the same way. That will be the best way to remember them_." He motioned to all of the people in the memorial with them. "I think that's what you two should do with your brother and husband…and that's what everybody should do with their loved ones. Because if we all do that, this world will definitely be a happier place."

Zelda and Charizard shared a look of solemn agreement. Then they looked back at the names of Link and Greninja on the wall. They might not be able to enjoy all of the good things about them today, but if they could emulate them, that would surely be enough to remember them.

 **HORRAY FOR MORALS! Anyways…This was something that took an extremely long time to write, but it was extremely fun! I only hope that this was enough to remember all of the people who died in the 9/11 attacks. With that, I will see you guys later!**


End file.
